Ocean Acidification – Can It Affect Us Here In The Kuskokwim?

Here are a few informative links from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with information pertaining to ocean acidification, something that should be of interest to anyone who relies on the bounty of the oceans…which is darn near everyone.

This first link is a short Youtube clip briefly explaining what ocean acidification is and how it affects the small crustaceans (like the krill in the photo below) that are a vital component in the food chain. This clip also discusses the potential impacts to Alaska’s subsistence and commercial fisheries. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PWIJI8-9nA

In this sound clip of Dr. Jeremy Mathis during a recent presentation to the Alaska Marine Science Symposium, he discusses – much more in depth – just how Kuskokwim salmon maturing in the Bering Sea can be affected by a decrease in ocean pH due to ecosystem dynamics. http://www.alaskamarinescience.org/JeremyMathis.mp3

Watching or listening to these, it does – or should – make a person wonder how big our individual carbon footprint is…and how we might reduce it?

Krill - one of the many organisms potentially affected by ocean acidification that would have cascading effects on the food chain.